Written by:

Beril İşçi, İzmir University of Economics Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design Student

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Deniz Hasırcı, İzmir University of Economics, Head of Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design

“INTERIOR EXPERIENCE” AT DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

The 8th Interior Architecture Department Heads Meeting, which was hosted by, İzmir University of Economics (IUE), Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, took on the theme “Interior Experience”. The event took place between April, 21st - 23rd with the participation of Iris Dunbar, past president of the International Federation of Interior Architect / Designers (IFI) 2015, as the guest speaker.

As for April, 23rd, the signing of the IFI declaration at the Historical Gas Plant by Aziz Kocaoğlu, the Mayor of the Larger Municipality of İzmir, and Sebastiano Raneri, the current President of IFI, both due to the organization of Chamber of Interior Architects, İzmir Branch, Board of Management and with the contribution of Izmir University of Economics, Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. These events enabled, a high level of awareness on Interior Architecture in İzmir.

On April, 21st, in meeting in which the first session was handled, with the participation of a smaller group of department heads and graduate students, 4th Platform of Interaction and Communication Between Graduate Programs was coordinated by Asst.Prof.Dr. Ali Aslankan. The session of which opening speech was given by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Deniz Hasırcı resumed with the speeches of the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Prof.Dr. Ender Yazgan Bulgun, Director of Graduate School of Social Sciences, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ö. Osman Demirbaş and Coordinator of Design Studies Graduate Programs, Asst.Prof.Dr. Gökhan Mura, on Design Studies Masters and PhD programs. After the evaluation of previous steps by Prof.Dr. Uğur Ulaş Dağlı, Ali Aslankan made his presentation, An Anthology on International Graduate Programs and Research Fields in the Domain of Interior Architecture. IFI Past President Iris Dunbar, in the session to which she participated as speaker, gave her speech on Academic Tendencies in International Interior Architecture Education Programs. At the end of the program, the meeting, Q&A - IAED, in which Dunbar and students had the opportunity to make conversation was conducted. Besides Dunbar, Hasırcı, the Head of Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, Aslankan and Dilara Gür, the Head of Chamber of Interior Architects İzmir Branch, replied students’ questions falling under business life, troubles of studentship, the role of interior architecture in the society etc.

On April, 22nd, with the participation of 57 universities including Cyprus, the second stage of the meeting related with the theme “Interior Experience” was conducted at IUE conference hall. At the session of which opening speeches were made by the Dean of FFAD, Prof.Dr. Ender Yazgan Bulgun, the Rector, Prof.Dr. F. N. Can Şımga Muğan, due to the 40th anniversary of the Chamber, Dilara Gür, the Head of Chamber of Interior Architects İzmir Branch made her speech. After the speech of Iris Dunbar on Interiors Intelligence, Prof.Dr. Uğur Ulaş Dağlı conveyed his observations about the previous meeting, 7th Interior Architecture Department Heads. Board of management of UCTEA Chamber of Interior Architects’ participation at the level of chairman and vice chairman was of great importance for the meeting.

While the first session of which topic is Thematic Conversations (Vocational High Schools, Accreditation, IFI Declaration Clauses, Common Issues) started with memories, about Chamber of Interior Architects and IFI, told from the first person, Nilgün Çarkacı who had made a great contribution to formation of Chamber of Interior Architects and was the first one getting in touch with IFI, it resumed with the presentation by Assoc.Dr. Ö. Osman Demirbaş on Interior Architecture in Turkey and Interiors Declaration. Demirbaş leading to come into the first contact with IFI is the first Interior Architecture getting involved in IFI Board of Management from Turkey. The session was ended with the research presentation on Vocational High School Associated with Interior Architecture in Turkey, by Lecturer İpek Kaştaş Uzun. As for Commission and Research Presentation themed second session, it was started with the presentation on An Interdisciplinary Research Project: Steelcase – Kadir Has Active Learning Center, by Asst.Prof.Dr. Orçun Kepez, Kadir Has University Interior Architecture Department Head. Following Asst.Prof.Dr. Ayşen Cevriye Benli who resumed to the session with her research presentation on Reflection of Vocational Practices to Learning, Eda Karataş, Editor of İçmimar Journal took the floor. Karataş mentioning İçmimar Journal and Forum Interior, pointed out that she expected publication supply from departments, the journal gain meaning thanks to the contributions. So as to make commission conversations, the session was ended. While the third and last session’s topic was Forward Steps Discussion: Sustainability of the Meeting, the first speech was made by Deniz Hasırcı. In the rest of the session, Head of Bahçeşehir University Department of Interior Architecture, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Sezin Tanrıöver, holding the floor, gave her speech on 9th Interior Architecture Department Heads Meeting as the following step. Finally, with the presentation Interior Architecture Students Meeting, Head of Yaşar University Department of Interior Architecture, Asst.Prof.Dr. Zeynep Tuna Ultav got the floor.

At the end of Interior Experience themed meeting, with the accompaniment of Lecturer Michael E. Young from Architecture Department, presentation and tour of FFAD building which was designed by himself and arose through a participatory way was carried out. After that, the exhibition That Moment which was held due to both the case guests’ photographs had been taken during the meeting and coordination by Lecturer Selin Gülden, and cocktail was organized. Interior Architecture concert and Şebnem Aslan graduated from Izmir University of Economics Interior Architecture and Environmental Design in 2015 accompanied to the cocktail with “Pek Çalınmayan Şarkılar”.

Signing Ceremony of IFI Declaration which was held on April, 23rd at Historical Gasworks, by following Interior Experience Meeting, gained both awareness of the profession, interior architecture, and value in terms of international steps.

The organization is conducted with the participation of Aziz Kocaoğlu, İzmir Larger Municipality Mayor and Sebastiano Raneri, the President of IFI, Iris Dunbar, the past President of IFI 2015, Chamber of Interior Architects Center Management, Board of Chamber of Interior Architects İzmir Branch, Rector of IUE and Dean of FFAD, Interior Architecture Department Heads, other guests and students. Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ö. Osman Demirbaş undertook session headship. Thus, among the cities signing the Declaration, İzmir became the 121st one of the world and the first one in Turkey. Kocaoğlu the Mayor, pointed out that they aimed to make İzmir a city of innovation and design, and acceptance of that Declaration was a big step in that sense. As to Raneri, he gave utterance to that the declaration signed was a shared work of 89 countries in the world. The Turkish version of the letter of Declaration translated by Nilgün Çarkacı, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ö. Osman Demirbaş, and Asst.Prof.Dr. Ufuk Doğu Demirbaş is possible to access on the official website of IFI (ifiworld.org). After the celebration, the Day was celebrated with a cocktail and city tour.

Hasırcı, by saying that, with Interior Experience, they had had several effective days due to a busy team work, indicated that there were countless supports to the team of which the main staff included Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ö. Osman Demirbaş, Lecturer İpek Kaştaş Uzun, Lecturer Selin Gülden, Asst.Prof.Dr. Ali Aslankan, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Mehmet Koştumoğlu and Std.Asst. Gizem Yıldırım. Hasırcı who featured sustainability of the meeting and being organized, stated that she thought that international conductions would have a contribution to practical, long and short term steps that would be taken.

By wording that the organization was conducted through an effective participatory process, she conveyed that the contributions of students of the department were valuable. By stating that having diverse participants and partners together was significant in terms of national and international awareness of interior architecture, relayed that the profession has also international issues and problems, and stated that there was something to learn from that sharing. Hasırcı worded that the cases, both that there was simultaneous translation in both English and Turkish in all meetings, and that anthologies from those translations would be published by being deciphered, would lead the subjects that had been talked on to be shared on the points on which they could be effective.     

Volunteer students from the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, by taking active roles in all the activities of the week, were given opportunities such as, acquainting with vocational institutions and individuals, talking face-to-face to the most significant representatives of the domain, meeting them and expressing themselves in an intimate environment. Students, stated that, the whole experience was very positive, and added that overall they became hopeful in terms of their profession, feeling that the partners of the profession were like a family and they themselves were members of that family too, witnessing solutions of shared problems and common apprehensions.    

IFI webpage: http://www.ifiworld.org
What the Declaration Means: http://ifiworld.org/…/05/IFI-Interiors-Declaration_small.pdf